If anybody had stood to benefit from Dwane Casey deciding to bench Andrea Bargnani on Sunday afternoon, it would have been Ed Davis.

Davis, the Raptors’ reserve power forward, was having what might have been his best game as a professional: He had 15 points and 14 rebounds in just 22 minutes in a double-overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. However, he did not come back on to the floor after being pulled for Bargnani, who had a 2-for-19 shooting night.

Yet, with a day to think about it, Davis still said Casey made the right call.

“Obviously, ‘Dre struggled last night,” Davis said Monday of Bargnani. “Obviously, he or DeMar [DeRozan] is our best player. They’re the guys we need to finish games. So, if you’re a coach, you’ve always got to ride with your stars. That’s what he did. ‘Dre’s never going to shoot 2-for-19 or whatever. We’ll be all right. I think it was a good thing, just to know that he has that trust, that coach Casey has that trust in him.”

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A day after the heartbreaking loss — a two-word term that, at this point, should probably just be renamed “a Raptor” — Casey seemed genuinely conflicted about the decision he ultimately made. On one hand, he recognized that sticking with Bargnani, thus dooming his team to a large quantity of missed shots, might have cost his team the game.

However, the main reason that Bargnani stayed on the floor was the thing that can often work to keep him off of it: Bargnani was playing stellar, or at least better-than-normal, defence.

“That’s my point exactly,” Casey said. “He had length on Duncan. It bothered him to a certain extent. [Jonas Valanciunas] is learning to guard that position. Duncan has too many tricks for a rookie. JV, it was a good experience for him when he was on him. But Andrea did an excellent job of using his length and not getting tricked in the post.”

In other words: Casey has repeatedly gotten on Bargnani privately for his defensive effort. If he pulled Bargnani in a game in which he was giving an honest effort on the other end of the floor, it would have been the equivalent of a mixed message. If the biggest concern with Bargnani is his defensive inconsistency, then good behaviour must be rewarded.